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This award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.

The actress, with filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared in a statement shared by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in various films like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my special gift as a mother”, stating that she was present during her final moments.

“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist along with compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Ladd’s early career included supporting roles on television series such as The Fugitive while the 1970s had her appearing with actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she starred in the thriller Black Widow as well as funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a television series inspired by her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she earned an additional supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Laura Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought Laura and I to England for a royal premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”

The 1990s included parts in comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom again. That period also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and helmed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Actually, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She happened to be a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration on my life”.

During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and informed she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.